DemonicSweaters

Joe Meek was one of the most creative and inventive engineer and producers of the early Rock & Roll scene in the UK. Before the Rolling Stones or Beatles, Meek was producing #1 hits in his home studio built in his apartment, stomping on the floor in the bathroom for kick sounds, building homemade spring reverb units, and breaking nearly every rule of the, then uptight, English recording industry.

Joe however was also gay, and sadly, in those days being gay in England was actually a crime. His secret became known and over time his life of secrecy seemed to get the best of him. He had drug problems, and seemed he was loosing grip with reality. This all came to an abrupt end when an argument with his landlord ended in a murder suicide committed by Joe.

It is my opinion if Joe were not forced to live in shame of his true self, he would have had a much less difficult time on this planet, and most likely this unfortunate and violent end would have never happened. He most likely would have been making amazing records for many many years to come.

Even though his life was short, there’s still a lot of music out there that Joe put his magical touch on. Below is a pretty good documentary on Joe made in 1991. Unfortunately this documentary is still a bit homophobic in my opinion, since they seem to avoid the topic as a whole for most of it. Plainly avoiding the fact that Joe was forced to believe that he was sick, or something was wrong with him simply because of his true nature.

Nevertheless, it is still an informational watch, and you hear a lot about Joe’s work in his own words, as well as by those he worked with.